The parish of St. Teresa of the Child Jesus in Pavlodar

Priests Addresses Sisters Diners of Eucharistic Jesus The history of parish

Parish Priest: Fr. Ryszard Matejuk
Vicar: Fr. Antoni Wake SJ

Address:
 

Suvorova St. 68
637010 Pavlodar

Tel. + 3182-501486
Tel/Fax + 3182-501483
E-mail: riszard@mail.ru

637010 Pavlodar
Rossyjskaja St. 106
Tel. 3182 742463

The regional city of Pavlodar, where the parish of St. Teresa of the Child Jesus is situated, began to grow in the 1960s. A giant of mechanical engineering, there were tractor works, aluminum and ship repairing factories and a vehicular bridge across the Irtish River built within the precincts of the city. Many private homes were being quickly built on the city’s outskirts, and in 1978 the parish took seat in one of the houses which had been bought with the believers’ money.

There were always believers in the Pavlodar region, but their number increased especially in the years of the war, when Stalin’s repression made people leave their homes in the Volga region, the Caucasus and Ukraine. There were also priests among the deportees and prisoners of the Carlag camp and the working army. They did not have a chance to visit Pavlodar often, but when they did, they met secretly with the believers in flats to administer the sacraments. Alexander Ben, who united the believers of the region into a community, was one of the first priests, and Fr. Anton Sheshkavichus, who was a prisoner of the Slavgorod camp, was another one. The active members of the parish were Maria Diser, Eugenia Book, Ella Lanveber, Ella Mugger, Regina Maer, Adolph Russman, Clara Lang, Alexander Bylman, Thomas Schmaltz, Constantine Remesh and many others. They were at the source of the Catholic community. Services and meetings for prayer took place in the villages of the region, including Krasnoarmeysk, Sherbakty and others.

In 1978 the parish in Pavlodar was registered, and a priest from Latvia, Fr. Frances Mernis, began working there the same year. Having been in Frunse (Bishkek), where Fr. Michael Keller was working, Fr. Frances discovered there was a Catholic community in Pavlodar, and after registration of the community and its members he came to Pavlodar where he worked until 1983. The body of Fr. Frances, who devoted himself to working in the parish of St. Teresa of the Child Jesus until the last days of his life, lies in the city cemetery.

It is well known that the administration made many difficulties for the believers. Many of these difficulties fell to the lot of each priest. Some of the laymen and clergy overcame many obstacles as well, and despite these the community exists to this day.

On April 25, 1997 the parish "moved" to a new place, and Holy Mass is celebrated in the semi-basement of the current church building. The church building is maintained with donations from different German church organizations, including "Red Trois"of Munich, and the Cologne dioceses of "Kirche in Not" and "Missionsprokur Nürnberg".

Jesuits priests Fr. Joseph Shmidlan and Fr. Richard Mateuk, and Sister Votaries of Jesus in the Eucharist are working in the parish now. Layman Joseph Kalenger and many other parishioners have taken an active part in building the new church. It is being built with the help of architect Victor Ivanitsky.

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